Wireless communication systems such as code division multiple access (CDMA) systems use several channels to effect communication between wireless devices, also referred to as “mobile stations”. One of the channels is the traffic channel, which carries the actual voice or data information that is being exchanged. In the case of data information, software applications can use a mobile station to communication with other devices through a wireless telephony infrastructure.
For instance, in one use a mobile station can be connected to a laptop computer, and applications running on the computer can communicate to external computing components by means of the traffic channel provided by the mobile station. A mobile station operating in this fashion is said to be operating in “packet mode”, and is essentially functioning simply as a wireless modem.
Software applications can also be executed by a processor within the mobile station itself, however. This is increasingly the case, as wireless telephones and other wireless communication devices become more sophisticated. The communication capability of the mobile station can be used by such applications to communicate with external computing components. A mobile station in this case is said to be operating in “socket mode”. In this case, much of the communication protocol functions that otherwise would be handled by a laptop when the mobile station is in the packet mode must be handled by the mobile station itself, requiring additional software referred to as Digital Mobile Station Software (DMSS).
Currently, mobile stations operating in socket mode have no way to idle a traffic channel. Stated differently, if the communication requirements of a software application using a first logical communication port referred to as a “socket” on a mobile station are suspended for a time, the traffic channel nevertheless cannot be released for use by other resources. Moreover, the present invention makes the critical observation that simply allowing an application to release a traffic channel without regard to whether other applications that might be executing on the same mobile station are using the same channel could result in one application unwittingly terminating a traffic channel that is currently being used by another application. Having made these critical observations, the present invention provides the solutions set forth herein.